Really enjoyed this review by 7 year old Roshini of Maybe Something Beautiful at Kids Book Buzz
Showing posts with label Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Show all posts
Thursday, May 5, 2016
Saturday, April 16, 2016
Read to Achieve
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| Kids discover Maybe Something Beautiful at Otis Elementary School |
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| Boston Celtic's player Marcus Smart reading with kids |
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Maybe Something Beautiful
This year several new books took flight from my drawing table. This one hits home.
Maybe Something Beautiful written by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell due out this April from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
The genesis of this book was a personal journey that started in 1997 when my wife Candice and I bought an old car garage in an edgy neighborhood at that time, the East Village of downtown San Diego. We were in our thirties and put down all our savings to make it happen. My mother in law cried when she first visited and couldn't fathom our choice of a first home in a such a challenging part of town. Undeterred we rented two industrial wet vacuum cleaners to scrub the car grease off the floors and began digging car parts out of the back yard. For ten years we worked with our friend Daniel to transform our home into a live/work studio where we could create and dream. In 2007 we stood back and took a deep breath. The once cold, dark 3,200 square foot space at last felt warm, and inviting. We were happy, sort of.
You see there was a big issue all too evident the moment you opened the front door. Drug dealing and related violence ruled the streets. That gray darkness outside extended into our home. We noticed that most people in our neighborhood walked looking down. They were sad, depressed or perhaps just afraid to make eye contact. The signs of struggle were all around and the few families who lived nearby rushed across the streets to get inside quick and lock their doors. Not knowing what to do we put up flyers and held a meeting at a local school to try to figure something out. We decided the best thing to do was something we knew. To use art to transform our neighborhood. After many meetings in our loft which became the paint station and staging area, the Urban Art Trail was born. It started with the painting of electrical boxes once used as makeshift offices by drug dealers. I developed a series of large murals that worked like giant paint by numbers so untrained artists could be involved. The trail grew to include benches, sidewalk poetry, sculpture, urban bird houses and mosaics. Working together with neighbors, children, students, graffiti artists, teachers, designers, residents of women's and homeless shelters and many others we transformed our community.
The East Village today is a great place to live and work.
As this story was so close to home, it felt right to take some risks and try new mixed media techniques. I blended original photographs I shot of the East Village with watercolor, acrylic on wood and at times stirred them up digitally. I look forward to sharing these techniques in future posts.
Maybe Something Beautiful written by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell due out this April from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
The genesis of this book was a personal journey that started in 1997 when my wife Candice and I bought an old car garage in an edgy neighborhood at that time, the East Village of downtown San Diego. We were in our thirties and put down all our savings to make it happen. My mother in law cried when she first visited and couldn't fathom our choice of a first home in a such a challenging part of town. Undeterred we rented two industrial wet vacuum cleaners to scrub the car grease off the floors and began digging car parts out of the back yard. For ten years we worked with our friend Daniel to transform our home into a live/work studio where we could create and dream. In 2007 we stood back and took a deep breath. The once cold, dark 3,200 square foot space at last felt warm, and inviting. We were happy, sort of.
You see there was a big issue all too evident the moment you opened the front door. Drug dealing and related violence ruled the streets. That gray darkness outside extended into our home. We noticed that most people in our neighborhood walked looking down. They were sad, depressed or perhaps just afraid to make eye contact. The signs of struggle were all around and the few families who lived nearby rushed across the streets to get inside quick and lock their doors. Not knowing what to do we put up flyers and held a meeting at a local school to try to figure something out. We decided the best thing to do was something we knew. To use art to transform our neighborhood. After many meetings in our loft which became the paint station and staging area, the Urban Art Trail was born. It started with the painting of electrical boxes once used as makeshift offices by drug dealers. I developed a series of large murals that worked like giant paint by numbers so untrained artists could be involved. The trail grew to include benches, sidewalk poetry, sculpture, urban bird houses and mosaics. Working together with neighbors, children, students, graffiti artists, teachers, designers, residents of women's and homeless shelters and many others we transformed our community.
The East Village today is a great place to live and work.
Imagine my excitement when Isabel Compoy and Theresa Howell crafted an inspiring story about young Mira and her neighbors based on the actual Urban Art Trail. Below are sketches from the pages of our book. Featured in this 2016 Picture Book Preview from Jbrary. Thanks Lindsay and Dana for your early support of this new book.
As this story was so close to home, it felt right to take some risks and try new mixed media techniques. I blended original photographs I shot of the East Village with watercolor, acrylic on wood and at times stirred them up digitally. I look forward to sharing these techniques in future posts.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
All Dreams begin with a Dreamer
I've been dreaming about the release of DRUM DREAM GIRL and today a new book was born. Thanks to author Margarita Engle and our young heroine Millo Castro Zaldarriaga for believing in dreams.
The journey from Margarita's poetic words to the birth of this book has lasted almost two years. Here's to Millo, a Chinese-African-Cuban girl who had the courage to break Cuba's traditional barrier against female drummers. When she was just fifteen she played her drums for President Roosevelt and first lady Eleanor. In the 1930s she went on to become a world class musician playing with American jazz greats of her era.
This book teaches children to not conform to gender stereotypes and follow the path of their hearts. GRATEFUL for the opportunity to be a storyteller.
To learn more about the creation of DRUM DREAM GIRL please check out this recent article at KIRKUS called Beating the Drum for Women's rights by Julie Danielson.
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Drum Dream Girl Video Book Trailer
Excited to post the video book trailer for DRUM DREAM GIRL due out March 31, 2015 from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. What an opportunity to create this video to share her story. Looking forward to getting our book in the hands of children, teachers and librarians.
Grateful to Margarita Engle for writing this poetic story, inspired by the childhood of Millo Castro Zaldarriaga, a Chinese-African-Cuban girl who broke Cuba's traditional taboo against female drummers in the 1930s.
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